The DHL Stormers slumped to a deserved 18-36 loss against the Glasgow Warriors in a United Rugby Championship quarter-final at the Scotstoun Stadium. If the Stormers can take anything away from this failed mission is that you can not win games with a 65% tackle success rate.
Despite the two injuries to Dan du Plessis and Salmaan Moerat early on in the first half, the Stormers dominated territory and possession in the first half, however, their desperate search for individual brilliance and rock-solid defence by Glasgow Warriors kept the Stormers from converting several try-scoring opportunities. Added to that, the hard running by Glasgow exposed the sloppy and listless defence by the Stormers, scoring three tries to one by the Stormers in the first half. Glasgow could rightfully feel that their lead of 19-13 at the halftime break was not a true reflection of the action on the field.
Nothing changed in the second half, and two tries scored in ten minutes by Glasgow Warriors were enough to secure a semi-final against the winner between Leinster and the Scarlets.
The Stormers started like a house on fire, launching wave after wave of attacks on the tryline of Glasgow, and a converted penalty by Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu edged the Stormers deservedly into a 03-00 lead after six minutes of play.
Unfortunately, the hard running of Glasgow once again exposed the lack of commitment from the Stormers' defenders. A yellow card to Senatla set up a try by Rory Darge who simply crashed through the front of a line-out to take a 07-03 lead by Glasgow.
Glasgow, was in complete control when Sione Tuipulotu's grubber was collected by Kyle Rowe to dance over for an easy try. A conversion by George Horne extended Glasgow's lead to 14-03 after fifteen minutes of play in the first half.
Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu converted a penalty, and following seven minutes of action, Glasgow could not control an up-and-under by Feinberg-Mngomezulu. Seabelo Senatla controlled the bouncing ball to score from ten meters out. Feinberg-Mngomezulu converted to give the Stormers a 13-12 lead.
A mistake by the Stormers from the kickoff gifted Glasgow a five-meter line-out, and Henco Venter scored Glasgow's third try around the front of the line-out to retake the lead (19-13) with twelve minutes still to play in the first half.
An unbelievable defensive effort by Glasgow during the final ten minutes kept the Stormers from scoring, ensuring the hosts a 19-13 lead going into the second half.
Once again, the Stormers had a blistering start to the second half, and great interplay by the Stormers set Seabelo Senatla away to score in the corner to cut Glasgow's lead to 19-18.
And once again, Glasgow struck back immediately when poor defence opened space up for Kyle Rowe to score his second try. Horne converted to extend Glasgow's lead to 26-18.
Seven minutes later, George Horne scored a great try and also converted to extend Glasgow's lead to 33-18.
A penalty by George Horne extended Glasgow's lead to 36-18 with twenty-five minutes still to play, which was also the final score.
Scorers:
Glasgow Warriors: Tries: Rory Darge, Kyle Rowe, Henco Venter, George Horne. Conversions: George Horne (4).
DHL Stormers: Try: Seabelo Senatla (2). Conversion: Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu. Penalties: Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (2).
Teams:
Glasgow Warriors: 15 Josh McKay, 14 Kyle Rowe, 13 Stafford McDowall, 12 Sione Tuipulotu, 11 Kyle Steyn (c), 10 Tom Jordan, 9 George Horne, 8 Henco Venter, 7 Rory Darge, 6 Euan Ferrie, 5 Scott Cummings, 4 Alex Samuel, 3 Murphy Walker, 2 Gregor Hiddleston, 1 Jamie Bhatti. Replacements: 16 Johnny Matthews, 17 Nathan McBeth, 18 Sam Talakai, 19 Max Williamson, 20 Jack Mann, 21 Macenzzie Duncan, 22 Jamie Dobie, 23 Adam Hastings.
DHL Stormers: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Ben Loader, 13 Suleiman Hartzenberg, 12 Dan du Plessis, 11 Seabelo Senatla, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Stefan Ungerer, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Marcel Theunissen, 6 Paul de Villiers, 5 Ruben van Heerden, 4 Salmaan Moerat (c), 3 Neethling Fouche, 2 Andre-Hugo Venter, 1 Ali Vermaak. Replacements: 16 Joseph Dweba, 17 Vernon Matongo, 18 Sazi Sandi, 19 JD Schickerling, 20 Connor Evans, 21 Louw Nel, 22 Herschel Jantjies, 23 Manie Libbok.